Our True Love
by dc-4me
Summary: Emma and Regina find themselves asking these questions as they realize something is not quite right about their lives, and that they live a life someone else crafted for them. Can true love win and break this curse? This is a story attempts to explain Emma's incredibly out of character behavior from s5 onward. This is a very anti-cs anti-hook story
1. Chapter 1

**_AN: This was a story I had planned for over 2 months but never got around to write. Eaviix requested a "fluffy angsty anything" and I found the perfect opportunity to write it. It started as a different concept but it transformed into what you see now._** ** _This is a cathartic story for me, I long wanted to read a story with this plot. It's what I wanted ouat to be past season 5. This story follows canon but also erases everything you know about it and_** ** _replaces it with what it should have been if AE were good writers. In my opinion at least_**

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For the first time, Emma found herself alone in the sheriff station. She was finally able to resume her job, her dad more than happy to give it back to her, after she quit being a sheriff to look after her family. She thought she would be happy, but it soon became clear that it was not her. Yet something prevented her from saying no to him, the man she married. It was weird to explain. While before she had small doubts and she was able to say no to him, now that Henry and Regina were out of her life, she found it even harder to say no. It was odd. Yet she ended up saying no. It was hard, even downright painful, but she did it for her daughter. He was being a downright asshole accusing Emma of cheating. He always came home drunk, yelling at Emma, getting violent whenever the baby cried, and babies cry a lot. He kept telling her to leave the baby, that it was not their baby, that she was not his, that she needed to prove her loyalty to him by sending the baby away. That struck a chord within Emma. She was thrown to the side by so many families, how could she abandon her own child, again.

He said it wouldn't be the first time, can't be that hard to do it after all she left Henry. He said he's not willing to raise a child that's not his. She asked why he accepted Henry but not this baby and he had the audacity to say it was something he had to do to get her, but that he won't put up with another bastard child. That's when she punched him, she actually punched him in the face and he got up to hit her only for her magic to react and freeze him. She kicked him out of the house. This happened a few times, and every time she would find herself forgiving him, and people letting him get away with it. Her parents and friends were supportive of them being together. Some even suggested that maybe she would be better if she abandoned the baby and got rid of the reminder of her infidelity. She never cheated though. So she didn't see it the way they did. Still the relationships were strained. It was all right while the baby was small, but it got harder and harder as time passed by and Emma would not get pregnant again. It was as if her own body was rebelling against her. She started to use her magic to fake images of the two of them being intimate. It was working. She only hoped that Storybrooke would never be depleted of magic.

But her relationships were strained, even between her and her daughter. It was getting worse and worse and the kid started to resent her. Resent her for never standing up to her, never saying anything. And now she was gone and Emma was alone at the sheriff station trying to find her. She had no idea where Sofia ran to. She searched all of Storybrooke and found no trace of the girl.

She was starting to panic and there was no one she could turn to for help. Her parents were indifferent and her so called husband even more so. No one in town cared and some seemed to suggest that perhaps this was for the better. This was wrong. So wrong. She felt a pounding headache and she felt so sick to her stomach. She pulled the bin from under her desk and emptied its contents in there. Something was wrong. Something was really wrong and she had no way around it.

She thought about asking Ruby for help, but she was not on good terms with Ruby. They fought, a lot. Ruby was the only one in town that told Emma she should break it up with Hook, that he was abusing her and that he was abusing Sofia. Emma laughed in her face and flipped Ruby off before she turned her back to the brunette, with a threat that if she ever approached Emma or Hook, she will end her.

What was wrong with her. Why had she done that? Something was wrong, she just didn't know what. She felt weird. Detached in a way from the situation, feeling relief that maybe now her and Hook could be a proper family, but deep down, as if caged inside her was this voice that yelled No this is wrong, so wrong, please, someone help. She didn't know what to think about it. One thought led to another and an idea formed in her head. What if they were cursed?

So she went to her parents and asked them how it felt when they were cursed. To her shock they described what she was feeling right now. There was a small voice telling them that it's okay they're together, while the bigger, louder voice demanded they stay separated. The same was true with her. The louder voice was telling her to forget Henry, Regina and Sofia and go be with Hook, while the small voice crying for help was telling her to get help, to get Henry, to get Regina.

She went home that night and opened her computer. On a simple whim she opened her browser and typed Henry Mills. To her shock she found a Henry Mills published a book called Once Upon A Time. Was this her son, Henry, or some other Henry? She read the summary. It sounded interesting. She ordered an e-book copy of the book and that night she started reading it.

To her shock that was her story, hers and Regina's, their story. It was so bizarre to see it through someone else's eyes. Yet as she read it she realised she found herself cheering for the wrong people to end up together. That when she read what Hook did to her over the dark one fiasco it wasn't pretty. She felt a bit sick to the stomach when she realised how quick she forgave him for trying to kill her family and for lying to her. Heck she felt sick knowing she still forgave him after he was violent towards her. She found herself getting sick again and ran to the bathroom. This was not okay. Something was really wrong.

The downstairs door smashing pulled her out of her thoughts. He was home again, drunk. He went to the kitchen and she knew what would happen next. He would get angry there's no food. Typical. Dread overtook her but then she steeled herself. No. This was not okay. She will fight this. He came up to the bedroom, all angry and drunk. She disappeared in a puff of smoke before he could see anything. She didn't feel like dealing with him. Not now, not ever. Never again.

* * *

She found herself sitting in front of a door, staring at the numbers on said door, having knocked just a few seconds before she had enough presence of mind to think about what she was doing. The door swings open and she's met with the angry stares of a brunette.

"What do you want?"

"I want to speak with Ruby."

"She's not here," and Dorothy goes to slam the door in Emma's face. The blonde is quick though, and stops it from happening.

"Please, I need help," Emma's almost begging now.

Ruby appears in the hallway and Emma can see her past Dorothy. The two lovers exchange a look after which Dorothy pulls away from the door to let Emma in. They invite her to the lounge and after offering her a drink, which Emma turns down, they sit opposite her wanting to hear what Emma needs Ruby for.

"First off, I want to say I'm sorry for how I acted. I don't know what came over me. I get this weird reaction whenever someone insults Hook, and it's not normal."

"Okay," Ruby lets the word drag, she knows that's not all of it.

"Two days ago Sofia went missing and I can't find her anywhere. I used magic to locate her but I don't know where she is. What's worse is that no one but me seems to care. Everyone I asked were like Sorry we haven't seen her but a few of them actually said well at least now you and Hook can start over. Like how?"

Ruby and Dorothy exchanged a worried glance. Why would anyone say that about a child? What was wrong with people? Were fairy-tale characters this disgusting?

"Which brings me to my third point which is: I think Storybrooke is cursed. I think I'm cursed."

"What makes you say that?"

"Little things really. I asked mom and dad how they felt under the curse, and that's exactly how I feel now. That sort of fuzziness, inability to stand up for myself to certain people the curse determined I should never stand up to. Then there's Henry's book."

"Henry's book?"

"Yes, it somehow got published on the internet. I read the story, my story and I think something went wrong in Camelot. Or after."

"But you said that the dark one curse was broken, both you and Hook are back to normal, and Rumple is the dark one. Plus the Black Fairy curse was broken too."

"Yes, but there was another curse on Storybrooke, one that was not broken. No true love kiss broke that."

"I can tell you now, there's no curse. Dorothy and I kiss plenty. If there was ever a curse it would have broken, since we share true loves kiss," Ruby says her arms crossed, and Dorothy puts a soothing hand on her thigh.

Emma pauses and thinks for a bit. She had a point against that but her brain was getting fuzzy. She drops her head trying to focus as the two lovers start to get concerned.

"Emma?"

"Sorry, my head hurts. Give me a moment."

The two women look on, concern evident on their features. Emma tries to straighten her posture then through gritted teeth, as if she's in pain she manages to say.

"The dark curse can only be broken with a specific true love kiss designated into the curse. Hook's intention was to hurt me. He tried to kill my family yet I forgave him and married him. I abandoned Henry, when he needed me the most, and allowed him to treat Sofia badly, to the point that my own child started to resent me."

"Emma…"

"Wait. Let me finish." Emma tries to take a deep breath, but struggles to the pain. It was clear to everyone in the room that something was very, very wrong. "I read Henry's book. The curse Hook cast in Camelot was never broken. We only stopped being the dark ones because of Rumple's treason. The curse Hook cast to hurt me was never broken."

"He cast a curse to hurt you?"

"Yes. And I erased people's memories so they wouldn't remember what Hook did. To protect him," with that Emma slumped away from the couch in pain. Ruby and Dorothy ran towards her. As they tried to help Emma settle on the couch, they both exchanged worried glances.

"Don't worry, Emma, we will find a way to help you."

tbc

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 ** _AN:Okay please please let me know what you guys think._**


	2. Chapter 2

:AN: The timing of me publishing the first 2 chapters is a bit off. But the story is already written and I plan to publish the remaining chapters 24 hours or so apart.

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She remembered. She remembered everything. She was no longer Roni, a simple bar owner in Hyperion Heights, but Regina Mills, mayor of Storybrooke, reformed villain and most importantly Henry's mother. And she was heartbroken.

They were in this situation because of her, because of her stupidity and naivety. Because she saw herself in Drizella and wanted to help the girl. It backfired. It backfired spectacularly, and now her family was hurt. Henry was separated from her, didn't remember her, again and it hurt. To make matters worse Henry was separated from his wife and child and both adults didn't know any better. What would she tell Lucy? She'll be the villain once again for trying to keep apart true love. All because she didn't want Henry or Jacinda to be hurt.

Where was Emma when she needed her? Oh that's right back in Storybrooke, playing house with an underserving scum. She abandoned her son and Regina for ... Ugh she didn't even want to think about. Emma's promises of giving Regina a happy ending were hollow, a nothing. Yet another person who promised her stuff and then broke that promise. She wanted to be furious with the blonde, she really did, and perhaps she was, though she felt she should be more furious than what she was showing or feeling. Everything sucked, for lack of a better word.

She was angry with herself. Her son left when he turned 18, he left in search of adventure. He found a family, but how could he provide for them? He was an Uber driver and a failed writer. She really thought he was a good author. She wondered why people didn't click with his book. Maybe he did need that college education after all to tech him how to write properly. She vowed then and there that as soon as she finds a way to break this damn curse without hurting her family, she'll make sure to put her foot down and ask Henry to either pick up a proper trade or go to college and get an education. Uber driver. He was an Uber driver. That's something people did as a second job, while they studied or to save for a holiday. This was all Emma and that pirate's fault. She bet that the pirate couldn't be happier to get rid of Henry. One less distraction for Emma.

She thought long and hard where she could start. She remembered Henry's bruised ego at his book being a flop, his musings that he wanted a mom so bad he gave himself two, and his admission that even though it flopped he wrote it for himself. She was calling bull on the second part. That's what all people who fail say. It's a way to soothe their own wounded egos.

The question remained why the book was badly received though. It was a good story. It was Regina's story. It was Emma's story. Why didn't people like it. True she never read it herself. Did she need to read it now that she knew it was the story of her life and Emma's and everyone else's? Now that she thought about it, it did hurt to know her life story was not as compelling as the lives of other fictional characters. Why was Twilight or 50 shades better? Did people really prefer a superficial villain that chases a teenage girl because she's prettier than her?

In the end curiosity got the best of her so she pulled out her phone and started to search "Once upon a time" by Henry Mills. The first search result was from Amazon. She went in and started to read. The plot summary made the book sound good - 'a modern fairytale where Emma Swan is comfortable in her life as a bail bonds person when the child she gave up a decade earlier, suddenly shows up. He is convinced that she is the daughter of Snow White and Prince Charming, who sent her away before the Evil Queen could cast a spell, freezing the fairytale world in time and bringing them to present-day Storybrooke, Maine. Emma decides to stay in the town to keep an eye on him, and she discovers he may not be wrong after all.'

Despite the promising summary, the book had a one star rating. There were a total of four reviews giving it a five star and a whopping one hundred reviews giving it a 1 star. She was shocked. Why did some people, four of them, like it while one hundred people hated it. She needed to know. She started with the five star reviews.

She read them all in five minutes and she was grossed out. They were all praising the romance between Emma and the pirate saying how it was cute and all of that. Regina felt like vomiting, except that she was in public so she had to hold it all in.

She decided to look at the one star reviews. She assumed that if the five star ones liked Emma and Hook then the 1 star loathed it. It was an easy enough assumption to make.

What she read made her blood boil. The reviews were calling Henry a rape culture apologist, said the book was bland, it had a great promise but threw it all out for a white man, painting abusive and toxic relationships as romantic. Some called Henry homophobic. There was a lot of anger going on and on and on.

Then her attention was caught by a few reviews that called the book incomplete, pointing out that there are a lot of plot holes and that Henry did a big mistake in never actually breaking the Dark Hook curse. That the book just jumped to the new story leaving that particular plot point unresolved. Those reviews went on to say that the book would have been a good fairytale deconstruction had he not painted the relationship between Emma and Hook as romantic. Regina frowned at that. She stared blankly at the phone trying to remember whether the dark curse cast in Camelot was broken. As far as she knew Emma and Hook never shared true loves kiss. Emma and Henry did twice, once to break Regina's curse and once to break whatever it was the Black Fairy did. But she knew from experience that a dark curse can be broken only by a specific true love kiss otherwise her own curse would have broken long before it actually did. She thought of Zelena's curse that broke with a true love kiss between Henry and Regina herself. No matter how many times Snow and David and other true love couples kissed it was Henry and herself that broke it.

This left her with quite a few questions. If there was a curse in place how could it be broken and how come despite the curse Emma is still so focused on Hook, that she would abandon not one but potentially two of her true loves: Henry and, if the people reviewing the book were right, then Regina herself. She had to do something. She couldn't leave Emma to stay in a marriage she was practically forced into by a curse and who knows what else. Emma was probably against her will in this. She remembered Emma admitting that Hook threatened to hurt her. What better way to hurt Emma that to destroy her like he did, make her abandon her son, once again, and force her in a relationship she probably would have never entered into.

She could not leave Henry, but she needed help. She couldn't go to Snow, or David. They were all very happy the pirate married Emma. That was odd. Regina was well aware of Hook hitting on Snow suggesting she sleep with him. How were they now so happy to have him play happy family with their daughter?

She didn't know what to do, or where to even start. She looked up at the sky and made a wish. Her wishes were never heard, but maybe this once, her wish will be heard. A knock on her door interrupts her thoughts. She looks at her watch. It was 9 pm. Who could be out at this hour?

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AN: Please let me know what you think


	3. Chapter 3

**AN: Hey guys. As promised here's chapter 3 out of 7. Hope you guys enjoy it**

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Two weeks earlier

Although it was a sunny day, Sofia found that she could not enjoy it. While most kids would play outside and have fun, she was not one of them. None of the kids wanted to play with her, because she was a bastard child, or so she heard adults and children alike call her. Despite only being 11 years old she knew a lot more than people gave her credit for. She knew her mom's husband, never cared for her, didn't see her as his. She never understood why. She had her mother's eyes, dark hair that would curl, tan skin. Yet he claimed she wasn't his, despite her mother saying she never cheated. She never felt his if she was honest. She felt a connection with her mother, a similar connection she felt with her grandparents and uncle. But she never felt that connection with anyone else. It was hard to explain. It was as if they were a part of her, so she should technically feel that for Hook, but she didn't.

And so she was all alone, on a bench, looking over the school yard where other kids would play around and longing she could be one of them. She, often times, found herself wishing she was somewhere else, with someone who actually loved her. Not that her mom didn't love her. She did. She was just a bit distant, sometimes too concerned with pleasing Hook, to care too much for Sofia, herself. She found that she resented her mom and her family for that. She knew she had a brother out there somewhere and she often dreamt of running to him, to ask him to take her in. Has he run away for the same reasons? She asked her grandmother once, if she knew where her brother was, and she only said he went on an adventure. That usually meant he was dead, except that when she made that comment her grandmother looked shocked and said no way Regina would let that happen. She later found out Regina was Henry's mom too. She sometimes wished she had another parent out there. One that loved her, one that would look out for her.

Today was one of those days and she looked at a dandelion in her hands and exhaled, feeling quite dejected and upset. It was a common occurrence. She blew on the flower and looked at the stems blowing in the wind. She left out a sigh. There was not much she could do. She had nowhere to run, no one to run to. But when she's old enough she will leave this place and never turn back. Just like her brother did. No wonder he never came back. No wonder Henry's other mom never came back either. This place sucked.

"Hey, there. How come you're not playing with the other kids?" someone asks her and Sofia looks up to see Astrid sit next to her on the bench. Astrid is nice. She's friendly and bubbly and sometimes that rubs off on Sofia. She wishes Astrid could take her in, but that would cause so many issues with her mom, she doesn't want to make Astrid suffer like this.

"They won't play with me."

"What do you say you come over to the Convent after school? Sister Bertha made this amazing cake. Thought you might like a slice so we saved you a slice."

"Okay."

"Cool, I'll see you after?"

"Yeah," and Sofia smiles for the first time that day.

* * *

That afternoon finds Sofia at the Convent. Her mom is at work, so she can make a slight detour on her way home. Cake is always worth it. They don't have that at home. Not the good cakes anyway, like the ones sister Bertha makes, only what he likes. Her mom almost never makes anything else. She's like a slave to his wishes, almost like a robot, without autonomy. She only breaks from under that spell whenever things get too close for comfort against Sofia, but then she shrinks right back in. It's weird and she can't explain it.

But thoughts of her miserable life at home, flee from her mind when she gets to taste the cake that Astrid saved for her. She starts to look around the scarcely decorated room and then she sees something that looks like a snow globe. She goes to it and picks it up. When she does, it changes and the image in the globe changes to one of a white mansion. She knows that mansion. According to her grandma it belonged to Regina and Henry. She looks at it and sees her mom, with Henry, Regina and herself. They're building a snowman together and the minuscule version of themselves seem to be happy.

A hand on her shoulder breaks her up from the trance she's in watching that picture, seeing her heart's desire play before her very eyes.

"Sofia?"

"I'm sorry, I'll just…" she puts the snow globe back down on the table and steps away from it. She feel empty and cold all of a sudden. Astrid looks at her with surprise in her eyes. Sofia backs away and is about to run when Astrid calls her name.

"Sofia, wait…"

And Sofia stops at the door.

"Please, come back."

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have touched that globe."

"That is okay. Please come back in, and close the door."

Sofia complies with the request and comes back into the room closing the door behind her.

Astrid picks up the globe, it's the same plain old snow globe with the Storybrooke main street and clock tower. The fairy hands the globe to Sofia and the brunette picks it up. The image shifts again to what it was before. Astrid watches with rapt attention the images playing there.

"What is this?"

"This? It's from our home world. It shows the immediate family of any particular individual."

"Immediate family?" she looks at the globe and notices a particular person completely missing from the photo.

"Yes."

"Like… blood related, or?"

"Yes. The Enchanted Forest put a great emphasis on biological children, as you know."

Oh she knew that. Her life was miserable because her mom's husband thought she wasn't his child. If the globe was right, then, she wasn't.

"Does this mean..." she lets it linger because she has no idea what it even means.

"It seems the globe picked up Regina and Henry alongside Emma as your immediate family. The globe only pics parents and siblings."

"Oh," she moves away from Astrid and sits down. Maybe she has a place to run to, someone to run to. "Do you know where Regina is?"

"No, I am sorry. She went with Henry. She never came back with your mother."

Sofia feels dejected. So her other mom never bothered to come back. Never bothered to be with her. This was worse than anything she expected. Any joy she had at finding out she had another parent left to run to, evaporated.

"I see," she puts the globe away "Thank you for the cake. It was lovely," with that she makes her way home feeling more dejected than ever.

* * *

A week after the incident at Astrid's, Sofia slips into proper depression and Emma, notices it.

"Sofia, is everything okay?" the brunette only shrugs her shoulders and moves away from her mom. Hook watches them from the couch, bottle of rum in hand. She spares them a glance then goes to her room. A soft knock comes a few seconds later. "Sofia, please"

"It's open."

That's all the invitation Emma needs as she makes her way inside.

"My darling, what's going on?"

"Nothing, just a lot of stuff on my mind."

Emma knows there's more than that. She wants to comfort her daughter and she's battling an inner instinct to go make sure Hook is okay and all settled before anything else. But she fights that instinct, her daughter needs her, and what's wrong with her? As a mother her child should come first, yet she struggles so much.

"Does Henry know he has a sister?"

Emma is taken aback by that question.

"He knew I was pregnant with you but not the gender."

"Where is he?"

"Last I saw him he was in another realm."

"Why?"

"He was looking for his happy ending."

"Did he find it?"

"I don't know."

"Did you speak with him recently?"

"I haven't spoken with him in a long time." and then she's appalled at herself that she let almost 11 years pass, 11 years in which she never checked in with her son, or Regina. What was wrong with her?

"Did you speak with Regina?"

"Regina?" and Emma was baffled. Why was Sofia mentioning Regina of all people? "No I haven't spoken with her."

"Did she know you were pregnant?"

"I assume. Killian said he told her."

Sofia narrows her eyes at that. It was bizarre, but maybe… Now that she said it, Emma also found it odd. All of a sudden Regina decided to stay with Henry, despite the fact that her life, the town she created were back in Storybrooke. So were all her friends and her sister and niece. Despite it all, Regina not only didn't convince Henry to not come back, but also chose to stay with him herself, breaking any contact with Storybrooke and more importantly, Emma, herself. That hurt, now that she thought about it.

"Honey, what's with these questions?"

"Nothing, just curious is all."

"I see," Emma gets up to go and Sofia lets her. She has things to think about.

* * *

She does a lot of thinking. She even makes a list. She soon reaches the conclusion that it is possible Regina doesn't know she has a daughter. But then how couldn't her mom know either? She knows of Mr Gold's shop, his son Gideon takes care of it now. She makes her way there intend on finding answers. She stumbles upon a globe. She knows about it from her mom's stories. That's how they found out where Henry was taken to. She makes it work, she knows how to, after all, and the globe activates and shines in two places. One is easy to identify as Storybrooke. That's where her mom is. The second one is in what looks to be Seattle. She takes her phone out and takes a picture, while Gideon is still busy with a customer.

She spends the next two days planning a trip. She knows where she needs to go, but she has no idea how to find what she's looking for. Seattle is a big city, it's like looking for the needle in the haystack. She runs to what is Regina's mansion and looks around for anything that would help her find out where her other mom lives. She can't find anything, except photos. She picks one up. It's of Regina, Henry and Emma. They look so good together, like a real family. She wants that. She wants a real family and a mom that loves her and for that she needs to find Regina.

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 _ **AN: Reviews are much appreciated. I literally squeal with joy at work when my phone shows me one.**_


	4. Chapter 4

AN: Thank you to all of you that left reviews for this story. I appreciate them so much and they really make make day.

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She didn't know what to do, or where to even start. She looked up at the sky and made a wish. Her wishes were never heard, but maybe this once, her wish will be heard. A knock on her door interrupts her thoughts. She looks at her watch. It was 9 pm. Who could be out at this hour?

* * *

"Are you Regina Mills?" and Regina finds herself looking down at a girl, around 11 or 12, looking up at her with big green eyes, filled with hope. She's seen that look before, a long time ago. She still sees it now, every day, in Henry. She's getting confused and the girl is waiting for an answer.

"That's me. Who are you?''

"My name is Sofia and I am your daughter."

If Regina didn't hold unto the doorframe she would have fallen down from the shock. These things don't happen, except when it actually happened to Emma and Henry. Without thinking too much she steps aside and lets the girl come inside her house. This is crazy. This can't be her child. She can't have children. She never had a child, she would remember. She just took the memory potion and she remembers yet she can't remember this.

"Wha… I mean.. How?" great and now she's stuttering in front of a kid.

"I don't know, mom never said anything, she swears she never cheated on her husband, yet you happen to be my mother too. I have no idea, just what books tell me it's possible, but I have no one to ask about it. I just know you're my other mother."

Regina looks at her, eyes wide and in complete shock. The girl, Sofia, she remembers, searches through her backpack and removes a globe. Regina takes it in her hand and nothing happens. The kid looks on confused as to why the image doesn't change for Regina, like it did for her back in Storybrooke.

"In Storybrooke it changed. It showed me my family," Sofia tries to explain. She thinks she probably sounds like crazy to her mother.

"Storybrooke has magic, this land doesn't," Regina says looking up from the globe and at Sofia, giving her the globe back.

"You believe me?"

"I believe that you are from Storybrooke and that Emma's your mother."

"Wait, how did you…?" Sofia looks shocked and she's at a loss of words.

"You have the same look in your eyes Emma and Henry do when they're determined to prove a point."

Still Regina can't ignore the irony of it all, Henry ran away from her looking for Emma, now Sofia is running away from Emma looking for Regina. Talk about coming back full circle. She wants to laugh at the irony of it all. She should call Emma, to let her know her child is safe with her. She remembers how panicked she was when Henry ran away from home, and she doesn't want Emma to go through the same.

"I'm gonna call your mom, to tell her you're safe. She can come pick you up."

The look of panic on Sofia's face is one that rings alarm bells in Regina's own mind. She's never seen anyone this scared before, well more like since her Evil Queen days when peasants trembled in her presence. But then Sofia composes herself and although she's about to cry, she shrugs her shoulders in resignation, looking down and gives Regina a weak whatever.

It's then that Regina realizes something is very wrong. That's a defeated expression. One she had when her own mother would ask something of her. She personally recoils at the thought that she's causing her alleged daughter a similar reaction to what Cora caused her.

She goes in front of Sofia and kneels down so they are at eye level. Gently, she lifts the girl's head so she can look in her eyes, and sees the tears that are already there.

"Oh darling," she says as she pulls her in and hugs her and Sofia hugs her back, as she sobs into her shoulder. They stay like that until the kid quiets down then Regina offers to take her coat and make her some tea.

One cup of tea later, Sofia is tucked in Regina's spare bed, dressed in her pyjamas, which she had with her. It became apparent to the brunette, the kid ran away from home and unlike Henry, it seemed she didn't plan to go back. She wasn't sure if the story was true, whether or not she was this child's mother, that was absurd at best, cruel at its worst. Cruel because she lost 11 years out of her child's own life, and that the pirate got to raise her and him and Emma are clearly terrifying the girl. How could Emma simply ignore the fact that her own child was unhappy and perhaps even abused by that scum?

Regina felt rage built up inside. But as soon as that rage built up it was soon all directed towards the pirate. She already reached the conclusion Emma was under a curse, maybe they all were. A curse that made Emma forgive anything bad that man did, a curse that made Emma abandon Henry again, when he needed her the most, and a curse that made Regina herself move away far away from Emma. Henry also left. What was it Emma said Hook told her? That he wanted to hurt her. What better way to do that than to make Emma lose another 11 years out of Henry's life and have Emma's daughter, no their daughter, be in an abusive household.

She didn't have a proof that Sofia was hers, but she didn't need one. She had her skin tone, her nose, and a few other features she could identify. She looked similar to how Regina remembers she looked at that age, just with a different eye colour and the Charming chin. But the rest it was no doubt all Regina herself. She smiled in spite of the ugly situation. She smiled because she got to have another child with Emma while the pirate failed there.

But no sooner had she thought of that, that dread started to fill her. If Emma was cursed, then Emma was trapped in a marriage without her consent. Then he was… she was taken out of her thoughts by the sound of glass breaking. She looked at her hands and saw that in her rage she bent her phone and broke it. She would need to buy a new phone, first thing tomorrow morning.

* * *

The next morning she woke up and prepared breakfast for her and Sofia. She told Sofia that she would need to go take care of some business, her actual business and buy a new phone as her old one broke. Sofia insisted that she would come with her, too afraid to be left alone in the apartment, and Regina managed to get out of her that she was afraid Regina would call her mom.

"Okay, come with me, but first we need to discuss a few things." So she told Sofia about Hyperion Heights and the curse currently in place, she also told Sofia about Henry's book and gave it to her to read. "Look, we need to go to Storybrooke. I need your mom to help me here, and your mom can't help me until she's free of Hook."

"Free of him? Good luck. She doesn't even pay attention to me. She tries, but then somehow, he always takes priority. For everyone. They all say I'm just a bastard child," she looks down, and Regina squeezes her coffee mug so hard it actually cracks in her hand. Luckily the crack is minor and Sofia doesn't see and Regina quickly disposes of the broken mug.

"Your mom is under a curse. I assume you know about the first curse? The one your mom and brother broke?," Sofia nods "well this is similar. You see Hook cast a curse with the express intention of hurting your mom. We need to go to Storybrooke and find a way to break that curse, Hook placed your mom under."

"So you're saying my mom is not like she is now?"

"Emma? Never. She fought me tooth and nail for Henry, even fought a dragon for him, she fought a wraith and took on the dark one to save me and Henry. No your mom is not like that at all. She's very lovable, goofy and loyal. We will get her back."

"I don't want to go back home."

"You don't have to. You can stay with me. This way you're safe and I'm not above not being petty to give your mother a taste of her own medicine with what she did with Henry."

"Okay," Sofia only shrugs, not one hundred percent convinced, but willing to try.

"Okay?"

"Yeah, let's go break that curse, then this curse."

"What do you say we name our little operation?" Regina thinks this might excite the child. She was at a loss as to what her daughter liked, but they had the rest of their lives to learn, life that started this very moment.

Sofia knows where this is going and thinks about it. She knows her brother always had operations. She now wonders if it was their mom's, Regina's, influence on him.

"Okay. Not sure what to call it though."

"Why don't you think of a cool name, and leave the rest to me."

"Cool. Thanks mom," Sofia says and Regina's more than happy to accept the hug. She's gone from being a lonely bartender to being a mother of two and a grandmother all in less than 24 hours. Life was crazy.

* * *

 _ **AN: Let me know what you guys think please :D**_


	5. Chapter 5

**_AN: As promised here's chapter 5 out of 7. hope you guys enjoy it_**

* * *

Emma woke up a few hours later on the couch in Ruby's lounge. Her head was hurting like crazy, but in a way it was worth it.

"How are you feeling?" Ruby asks as she comes in with a glass of water.

"I'm better. My head still hurts though."

"Hmmm. This curse is nasty. You're in actual physical pain if you even think ill of your relationship with Hook."

Emma can only grimace at that. She can't believe she's in this situation. She's been in abusive households but this one takes the cake. She promises herself she'll kill him, slow and easy but then she blanks out for a second feeling imense pain.

She asks for a notebook and through pain she writes down her current predicament, then she lays down feeling exhausted. Ruby and Dorothy exchange worried glances and wonder if there's a way they could get some help from someone. Someone who wasn't in Storybrooke when the curse happened.

They come up empty handed, but even so, they're all well aware that the only way this curse can be broken is through true loves kiss with Emma's romantic true love. If they find Regina, then half the problems is solved.

That part is easier said than done, since Emma hasn't heard from Regina in 11 years. Or from Henry for that matter. The couple judges Emma despite knowing its not really her fault. Still, perhaps the blonde should have realized something was wrong sooner. But Ruby snapped out of it feeling bad for shaming Emma, when the blonde was a victim in all this. No if anyone was to pay, it was Hook, and he will pay, if Ruby had it her way.

They still can't find Sofia and all three women start to get very worried as time passes on. It's now been three days and there's no sign of the child. Emma's beyond consolable at this point. She's going from door to door asking if anyone saw her daughter. The answer is always no, and with every "no" dread starts to fill Emma more and more.

Hook is there telling her not to worry, that kids are like that, running away, that Sofia's a rebel and it will serve her well to live of the streets for a while, to learn she's had it better at home anyway and to learn not to rebel like that. Except that Emma knows running away is not easy. She's done it herself because she would rather be living on the streets than in some of the Foster homes she's been in. She feels sick to her stomach and disgusted in herself that she made her own daughter feel like that. Has she made Henry feel like that too? She wonders, then she remembers Henry's last 3 years in Storybrooke were spent exclusively at Regina's house. He would only pop in for dinner once in a while then leave the house somewhat angry. What had she done? She had to end this. She had to find a way out.

* * *

She was at Granny's having a cup of coffee when she sees a strange woman and a child come in the diner. They put in their order and sit at a corner table. The woman made eye contact with Emma and the blonde felt something odd. Something she hasn't felt in a long time. Not to mention how odd it was that two strangers would come to Storybrooke. That was even more strange.

She looked out the window to see a new Mercedes be parked outside the dinner. The new car stuck out like a sore thumb in the 80s landscape Storybrooke was still stuck in. Emma made her way out the dinner but she didn't go far. She was intent on following the strangers to see who they were and what they were doing in Storybrooke. She had to wait for a while, out of sight. But that was okay. She had time. Plus she had a feeling, a weird one, that the two strangers were Regina and Sofia. It sounded crazy but her gut told her she's not wrong.

She tailed them in an invisible police cruiser and saw them end up at Regina's mansion. She felt like patting herself on the back for a job well done. She went up the mansion steps and knocked on the door. There was no answer so she knocked again.

The door opened and she saw an angry Regina stare at her.

"What do you want, miss Swan?"

Emma's knees went weak. Its been ages since anyone called her that, and she missed it. She missed Regina. But she was here for another reason. Regina had Sofia.

"I came to see my daughter. I know she's with you."

Regina looks to her side for a second, but it's enough for Emma to see the exchange. Still, Regina doesn't move from the door frame.

"She doesn't want to see you."

"Regina!" her tone comes as a warning, to which the brunette only lifts an eyebrow.

"Regina this is kidnapping. You can't keep me away from my child."

"Oh. Like you did with Henry, you mean."

"I'm Henry's mother too. It's not the same."

"Oh. Are you sure?" Regina's tone is a bit sarcastic. She's trying to get old Emma to resurface. It didn't work in the wish verse but maybe it will work here.

"Regina, I'm serious, you can't keep my daughter away from me."

"I'm not keeping her away from you. She doesn't want to be with you anymore."

"That's not true!"

"What's not true? That she came all the way to Seattle, to find me, because she was miserable being with you and your pirate?" Emma opens her mouth to protest but Regina is faster "don't you dare deny it. You know it's true. You left Henry to fend for himself when he needed you the most, you left him, so you could play house with your pirate, then you let him abuse your own child, and you let the town call her a bastard child. How dare you do this, Emma?"

Emma feels her hands clam and she feels the pain come again. She wants to fight Regina on what she said but she knows she can't. She briefly wonders if she can trust Regina. She remembers everything they've been through and decides that if there's anyone who could help her it's Regina. She knows that if there's one person she can trust it's Regina.

She shuffles and searches her back pocket and pulls a folded note that she hands to Regina. The note was her way around this curse. It was a one time pain writing it but the note would explain to anyone reading it that Emma is actually cursed and give some of the details away. She only wrote it the day before and thank goodness she did. She could now ask for help.

Regina looks confused but takes the note nonetheless. She opens it and starts to read. Emma waits patiently for Regina to finish reading it, then pulls the door open and invites Emma in. She exchanges a glance with Sofia and hands her the note Emma gave her. The young brunette picks it up and starts to read it, but not before her blonde mom nods her head in agreement.

The note explains that Emma is in a curse cast by Hook. It describes the instincts Emma has under the curse and what she believes is the purpose for the curse. In the letter, Emma apologies to anyone who reads it, apologizes for her cursed behaviour and begs for forgiveness. It explains that Emma can't voice those thoughts without being in physical pain. Sofia starts to cry as she reads it and as she realizes the bad situation they're in.

She looks up at her blonde mother and goes in to hug her, a hug the blonde accepts instantly as she melts against her daughter. Regina looks on with a fond look on her face. At least that's one hurdle they were able to get over.

* * *

 _ **AN: Reviews would make me very happy**_


	6. Chapter 6

_**AN:Thank you to all that have reviewed and read this story. I agree with you all, this story is very therapeutic, it's something I wanted to see on the show or read in a fanfic myself. I'm not the most stellar writer in the fandom, or even that brilliant, but I hope I'm doing this plot justice and I hope you guys enjoy this story.**_

* * *

It was weird how these things work. At the same time her mothers realized that they were under a curse or two, Sofia realized something was wrong and started a quest that brought her moms together. Sort of like what her brother, Henry, did when he was her age. Maybe it runs in the family.

Her mom, Regina, started to fuss a little over Emma, asking her questions trying to figure out when the change in attitude happened. Sofia was present as well, listening to her mom's story. Regina started to built something like a flowchart. The conclusion was that something happened in Camelot. She only wanted to know what.

Regina prodded Emma about her feelings towards Hook and Regina, herself, while she was the Dark One. It became apparent the Dark One did everything it could to keep Emma away from Regina and pushed her towards Hook. No surprises there if her moms were true love, a true loves kiss would have obliterated the Dark One from existence. No wonder. While Emma and Hook were no longer the dark ones, because of Rumple's trickery, the dark curse Hook cast was still in place as Emma never kissed her romantic true love.

Sofia excused herself and left the room to go grab a glass of juice but when she came back, glass in hand she heard her moms speak.

"Emma, I don't know..."

"But that's how true loves kiss works, right? With a love proclamation, and you believe there's a curse and break it. That is how my parents broke the sleeping curse and how we broke two dark curses with Henry."

"Emma, while I don't doubt that we are true loves, I think this curse is trickier."

"You never know... I mean it pains me to even tell you this, but we should have to try. Please. I can't be stuck in that marriage. Please. And if it doesn't work... We will cross that bridge when we come to it. But I want you to take care of Sofia. She's not happy with Hook and I. And I trust you. I trust you with my life and I know you're a great mom, Regina. "

"It will work though. It has to. I refuse to raise our children without you. Okay?"

Sofia looks through the crack in the door and sees her mom, Regina, at the edge of the couch, staring at Emma, and using her hand to caress her cheek. Emma nods in agreement.

"I love you. No matter what happens, I want you to know that I love you."

Emma gives her a weak smile as she lifts her own hand to Regina's cheek, to pull her closer. The brunette complies and bends her head down. Before their lips touch, Sofia can her blonde mom whisper 'I love you too.'

There's a wind pushing her back, away from the door, a wave in rainbow colors emanating from her moms and she gasps in surprise. She's never seen true love. She only heard about it. Her moms are still kissing when she makes her presence known, but they stop soon after, looking at one another with so much love.

"You did it," Emma whispers.

"No, we did," and she extends her hand out signaling to their daughter to join them.

"How are you feeling?" Sofia finds herself ask her blonde mother.

"Good. Really good," with that she gets up and is now sitting on the couch. She pulls Sofia to her and hugs her, sending words of apology for how she acted.

"It's okay, mom."

"No, it's not okay. But we will make it okay. It will be fine," Emma knows what she has to do. She first rips the ring that's at her neck, and shows it to Regina. She then removes the rings around her fingers. Regina takes the ring that's around Emma's neck and destroys it, cracking it with magic. There's a small magic fizzle from the ring but then it's all gone.

"I don't even like the colors he picked. Plain silver?" Emma mutters away as she puts the rings on the table.

"He will notice I destroyed the ring. He also must have seen the rainbows. He'll put two and two together," Regina's voice is calm, yet it carries a bit of an urgency. She casts a spell so that no one can enter the house.

"One thing I need to know is how come you think Regina is your mom," Emma says turning to her daughter.

"Oh. Because she is. It's how I found her. I used the globe that you used to find Henry. It found her."

"More like it found Henry. Regina was probably with him."

"I thought of that but no, and also because of this," she pulls a dusty old book from her backpack. It has the Storybrooke library stamp on it. "it says here that a child can be born out of true love magic."

"But how? Regina and I didn't even kiss once before this?" she looks up at the brunette and blushes.

"Umm, I don't know, maybe you two did a grand magic gesture, or something, around that time."

Emma thinks about it hard then she remembers. She remembers making magic with Regina to defeat some monster, and thinking what great partners they are and how great it would be to raise more children together. The next thing she remembers is feeling nauseous in the mornings and then finding out she was pregnant. Could it be?

She tells Regina and the brunette takes her hand in her own and tells her that she thought the same thing when they were fighting that monster. They smile at one another then they both turn towards their daughter, just as the kid launches herself in their arms. Their tender moment is interrupted by Emma's phone. They look down at it and see the caller ID. Emma picks up her phone and she closes the phone call. A few seconds later it rings again and Emma ends the phone call again.

They look at one another and start to laugh. Emma finally feels free and happy and able to say no and ignore him. No remorse. Zero remorse. In fact she feels an odd sense of satisfaction.

A small ding alerts them to a text message and there is an angry message from Hook demanding that he call her as soon as possible. Emma looks at Regina and the brunette only sighs.

"You'll have to face him eventually."

"My fist would really like to meet his face," Emma says feeling quite murderous.

* * *

They stay at the mansion for the rest of the day catching up on what went on in each other's lives. Regina didn't even know how to bring up the subject that they were grandmothers. Sofia had gone to bed as she felt exhausted, so this left Emma and Regina alone to talk.

"I wish I had a time portal to erase even knowing Hook."

"I know."

"You don't sound so keen."

"I'm not. Time travel could alter a lot."

"We would still have Sofia, most likely, and Henry would have never left Storybrooke."

"Yeah, about that." Regina looks down at their joined hands, "Once we deal with Hook, I need your help with something."

"Is Henry in trouble?" Emma's tone is nothing but concerned.

"More or less. We managed to cross the wrong people. I'm quite in a predicament at the moment and I really need that charming luck of yours."

"Some luck" Emma scoffs at that and Regina rolls her eyes. Getting on a more serious note she asks "What happened?"

"Well there was a dark curse that took us to Hyperion Heights in Seattle. If the dark curse breaks Henry will die, but if it doesn't Lucy will."

"Who's Lucy?"

"Henry's daughter," at that Regina smiles and takes Emma's hand her own "We have a granddaughter, Emma, and both her and our son are in trouble and it's my fault."

Emma looks shocked at Regina. Her son had a child, she was a grandmother. She's been so caught up in this curse she not only missed most of her child's life by ignoring her to pander to Hook, but she's lost more years out of Henry's life and now her granddaughter's life. That pirate will pay.

"How old is she?"

"Oh, she's ten," with that Regina pulls out her phone and thank goodness for iCloud. She shows Emma a few pictures and the blonde starts to cry. Regina holds Emma in her arms as the blonde lets all the anger and frustration and pain out. After a few minutes, the blonde is finally calm, and Regina lifts her head as she drops soft kisses over the blonde's face, kisses that have Emma giggle.

However, their tender moment is interrupted by someone shouting outside Regina's front door.

* * *

 _ **AN:Let me know what you think. Reviews are so, so appreciated and wanted.**_


	7. Chapter 7

_**AN: This is it. The last chapter. Thank you to all who took their time to review. I hope you enjoyed this tiny little fic. I agree with the ones that say the fic feels therapeutic. It's how it felt for me as I read it and I wish there were more of these fics. Anyway, I won't distract you guys much longer, below is the final chapter. Hope you guys enjoy it and drop me** **review** **to let me know what you guys think of the story as a whole.**_

* * *

"That lunatic will wake Sofia up," Emma says through gritted teeth.

"I'll go see what he wants," Regina says patting Emma's knee. "Go to our daughter. Make sure she's fine."

Emma nods her agreement and gets up to leave but before she let's Regina go face Hook, she pulls the brunette in giving her a kiss.

"Stay safe," the blonde sheriff murmurs against her lips.

"Will do," and after dropping another peck to Emma's lips she goes to face the music.

* * *

"Hello, Hook," Regina's all calm as she stands on her front porch, a calm expression on her face, faking ignorance. It took all her will power to not snap his neck then and there.

"Where is she?" he demands in anger. In the meantime Emma made her way to what was Sofia's room now, but they both kept the lights off, so as to not alert him to their presence at Regina's house.

"Where is who?"

"You know who!"

"I'm afraid I have no idea who you're referring to."

"Don't play dumb with me witch," he says furious as he approaches Regina. There's a barrier starting at the porch and he can't actually approach Regina. "Where is my wife?"

"Your wife?" she asks an expression of surprise on her face.

He just rages on, seething and looking murderous. Up in Sofia's room, the girl looks scared at her mother. They can hear the exchange, just like the neighbours can. Mrs Potts comes to her front porch and so does Mr Evans, shotgun in hand.

"It will be fine, your mom will take care of it," Emma tries to soothe her daughter. How many times was he angry and her child was scared of him and she never said anything, she never went to comfort her own child. She felt sick to her stomach knowing that this was common occurrence in her child's life, but up until now she had no one to protect her from the anger flares. "I'm so sorry, baby. I'm so sorry, I didn't stand up for you properly, that I didn't protect you like I should have."

"You were cursed. It is not your fault. It's like when grandpa was married with Katherine. He didn't know."

Emma marveled at how amazing her daughter grew to be, how kind and understanding. She was truly a mixture of her and Regina. That fighter spirit in her was from both of them.

"I love you so much, my darling," she whispered, hugging her daughter close.

"I love you too, mom. I'm glad you're back, I already like you a lot," she says hugging back.

Meanwhile

"Don't play dumb with me, you witch. You know what I'm talking about," Hook continues to rage on, just as a police cruiser stops outside Regina's mansion and David gets out of the car. He stops short looking at the exchange between Hook and Regina.

"Your wife? You never had a wife. All you had was an obedient slave, cursed to always be with you, despite her wishes, cursed to never be able to say no to you," at Regina's words, David's eyes widden in shock. This couldn't be true. But then Regina continues.

"That's right. You thought no one would notice? You thought no one would notice Emma was under your dark curse? The one you cast to hurt her?"

"Stop this nonsense now, witch!" Hook yells feeling rugged.

"Nonsense? Then why are you raging, now that there's been obvious signs of a true loves kiss? Why do you demand to see Emma? Is it perhaps that you're scared her curse was broken? Why would you come to my house, demanding that you see her?"

"This is all a nonsense!"

"Is it?" Emma's wedding rings appear in her hand and she looks at them. "For your information, Emma likes yellow, you could have at least bought her rings in a golden color, rather than silver. Alas it doesn't matter. Your wedding is a annulled as we speak, since Emma never gave her full consent to marry you."

She throws the rings at Hook then she turns to David.

"Deputy, would you mind arresting this man?"

"Under what charges?" Hook screams at her

"Oh, there's quite a few. Attempted murder, rape, assault, public disturbance. They're enough to grant you life behind bars," Emma says as she appears in the doorway behind Regina. David moves towards him, a pair of magic handcuffs in his hand.

Hook looks furious and struggles against David, punching him in the face. As David stumbles back from the punch, Hook pulls his gun, aims it at Emma and fires. Emma closes her eyes waiting for the impact of the bullet. When that doesn't come her whole being is filled with dread, as she opens her eyes expecting to see Regina had jumped in front of her and taken the bullet meant for her. The bullet however never reached either of them, as Regina holds her hand up stopping the bullet in mid air and making it drop to the floor.

Another shot rings and Hook drops his gun with a pained cry, his hand bloody. Emma and Regina look past him to see Mr Evans lower his own shotgun, a look of satisfaction on his face. David goes at Hook again but the pirate is not giving up, as he tries to hit David with his hook, only for Regina to freeze him on the spot.

He looks murderous at the brunette and he starts to yell how even if they kill him, he'll be back to murder them all, how he'll make Emma watch as he kills everyone she loves, for daring to leave him.

Emma freezes on the spot as she remembers all his threats over the years, as she remembers his promise that he will get her, that he will hurt her and how he succeed. Hook sees the reaction he caused in her and smirks in victory despite the pain, but that smirk is soon gone as a white light hits his chest, and he crumbles to the floor, his soul slowly disintegrating before their eyes.

Emma turns towards Regina to see her hold the Olympian Crystal. She breathes a sigh of relief. It's finally all over.

"He can never disturb us again. Ever," Regina says as she makes the crystal disappear to its safe place, and then makes Hook's body disappear. Emma jumps to her arms and hugs her.

"Can anyone tell me what's going on?" David asks feeling so out of it. They get him inside and they call Snow. They tell them what happened, all about the dark curse and how Emma was under Hook's influence since Camelot. How Emma never actually consented to marrying Hook. Snow and David listened in silence, shock evident on their face. Snow starts to cry and appologies for not seeing that anything was wrong, for thinking everything was okay, when it so clearly wasn't. But it wasn't their fault, it wasn't anyone's fault, but Hook's and all they could do from now on was move forward. Or at least that's what Emma was telling her parents. They were all broken, but they had the rest of their lives left to heal.

Emma refused to let her daughter and Regina out of her sight for even a moment. They knew they would have a long healing process ahead of them, all of them, but Emma was determined to make up for lost time, and Regina's determined to move at Emma's own pace. That night, when it just the two of them, they get to talk, about what all this means for them, how they'll move forward. They're both honest, after all, they lost decades being away from one another. This was not the time to be shy or undecided. They kiss some more, but they keep it at that. They have plenty of time, and more pressing issues, such as the predicament Henry was in. And so the next day finds the two women with Snow, leave to go to Hyperion Heights on yet another mission to save Henry.

 **The end**

* * *

 **AN: I hope you guys enjoyed it. I loved writing this fic. It felt more like a healing fic for me and given from your reviews it felt like a** **healing** **fic for some of you. Let me know what you guys think.**


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